Railway axle box lubricator



May 19, 1953 J. J. HENNEssY RAILWAY AXLE BOX LUBRICATOR 2 Smets-sheet 1 Filed Dec. 7, 1949 Patented May 19, 1953 RAILWAY AXLE BOX LUBRICATOR James J. Hennessy, Chambersburg, Pa., assignor to Hennessy Lubricator Company, Inc., Chambersburg, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Application December 7, 1949, Serial No. 131,579

.1 The invention relates to the lubrication of railway axle journals and more particularly to the type of lubricator in which the play of the journal axially, crosswise of the track, in the box actuates a pump to supply oil from the bottom of the box to the journal. f

Heretofore such pumps have usually included cylinders and pistons involving a substantial 1s Claims. (o1. sos-484) amount of metal machining and fitting with accompanying expense. They have included rigid parts of substantial size and difficult to apply to and remove from the axle box when it is assembled with the journal. In some instances it is necessary to jack up the box and remove the bearing and wedge and then drop the box onto the journal so as to provide more room between the journal and the bottom of the box for the insertion and removal of the pump. Inother instances, it is necessary to apply the pump to the box before the box is mounted on the journal and to disassemble the box and journal before the pump can -be removed.

The main object of the present invention is to provide a simple, economical pump, readily insertible in and removable from an ordinary journal box with the journal and bearing assembled therewith.

Another object is to assure more adequate pumping action than can be had with the familiar cylinder and piston pump by providing a. large area surface in contact with the lubricant and having a plurality of inlets functioning independently of each other.

, The present invention comprises a railway axle box lubricant pump arrangement having one or more-collapsible body. parts with` ilexiblefwalls which facilitates application and removal of the pump. yThe collapsible parts or chambers have ample intake and discharge valves andthe pump is provided with simple mechanicalirleans,l adapted to be actuated by yplay ofthe journal in the box, for collapsing the chambers and returning.

Figure 4 is a top view of the pump operating 2 device and positioning member shown in Figures l, 2, and 3. f

Figure 5 is a section corresponding to Figure 1 but illustrating another form of the invention.

Figure 6 is in part an end view of the pump shown in Figure 5 looking in the direction of the arrow t in Figure 5 and-in part a vertical trans--y verse section taken on the line 6 6 of Figure.

Figures 7 and 8 aredetail top views illustrating the valve structures of Figures 5 and 6 and drawn to an enlarged scale.

In the construction shown in Figures 1 4, the journal A, the bearing B thereon, the wedge C mounted on the bearingand the journalbox D, carried on the wedge C, are of usual construction.` The pump body i, its operatingleverr 2, randra lubricant distributor E are mounted in the space between the journal and the bottom wall k.Fof thebox which curves upwardly at the left hand end vof the box.

An elongated narrow positioning plateY 4 is disposed along the vcenter line of the boxbottom wall F and is secured to the right hand end wall G, as by Welding at W. Plate 4 is curved parallel to the box wall and is spaced slightly from the wa-ll F by lugs 5, and its left hand portion is slit lengthwise at 4a. l y

Operating lever! is pivoted at 'l to a U-shaped support 8 having a depending slide 9, cooperating with the bottom of the support to receive the opposing edges of the slot in plate 4. The wide left hand arm 6 of lever 2 `extends diagonally upwardlyand Vto the left from pivot 'i andhas an arcuate transverse contour to fit against the lower outer edge portion of the journal collar H. The right hand arm of lever 2- extends from pivot I substantially horizontally over plate 4 and includes a relatively short portion I0 and a relatively long forked portion I I pivoted at-l2 to portion I0 and .terminating at its right hand end in spaced downwardly inclined -diverging lingers I3.

Pivot l2 and the abutting ends of lever portions. l land il hold portions I0 and ll in alignment when the lever is in the position shown in -Figure 1 but portions lll and Il are freeto hinge on-each othervto accommodate insertion and withdrawal of the lever into and out ofthe box between journal A and box bottom wall F. Such insertion and removal is effected by the sliding of elements 8 and Sfalong Ithe positioningplate 4. f

A ridge I4 lonplate 4f normally will retain support 8 in the position shown in Figure 1,*but the height of the ridge is less .than the distance between the bottom of support 8 and the top of 3 slide 9 and if the support is intentionally lifted by a workman it may be pulled along plate 4 upwardly and outwardly of the box.

The pump body I comprises chambers I5 and I5, disposed one above the other and formed by a tube I1 of leather or other suitable flexible material. The lower end of the tube is secured to a. bottom Wall I3 and the upper end a top wall I9. A partition 2l, intermediate walls lI3 and I9, constitutes the top of chamber I5 and the bottom of chamber I6. A cross piece I3a is secured to bottom wall I8 and rests upon, but is not secured to, the forked ann II of lever 2.

A spring 2I thrusts the ends of the body tube I1 apart and springs 22 and 23 tend to keep their respective chambers expanded. Allthree of these springs may be compressed to accommodate insertion of the pump into functioning position in the journal box or its removal from the journal box. Spring 22 is weaker than spring 23 and, during the normal operation of the pump, yields readily, with spring 2|, to permit collapsing of chamber I5 while spring 23 yields less readily, if at all.

Bottom wall I9 is provided with passages or valve ports 24 and partition 23 is provided with valve ports 25. Discs 26 and 21 are loosely secured to bottom wall I3 and partition 20 by rivets R and overlie ports 24 and 25 and constitute nap check valves for the chamber ports or passages.

The pump body top wall I 9 ts against the bottom of distributor E and is apertured at 29 to provide for the free passage of oil to the face o! the journal to which the distributor is applied.

The distributor forms the subject matter of ka co-pending application, Serial No. '108,325, filed August 2, 1949, now Pat. No. 2,612,416, dated September 30, 1952, and includes the arcuate bottom plate, a fibrous pad P and Vsupporting springs S, all as described in said `co-pending application.

To assemble the lubricator with Ythe box and journal, plate 4 is nrst secured to the box. Distributor E is then inserted in the box beneath journal A. Then pump I is inserted and moved rearwardly into contact with an upstanding shoulder 4b on plate 4. Then support 3 with lever G pivoted thereto, is inserted vby slipping the support 3 and slide 9 over the split ends of plate 4 and pressing the slide downwardlyand inwardly past ridge I4 to the position shown in Figure 1. Ridge I4 and the ends of cross piece Ila cooperate to retain the operating mechanism and the pump body in the desired position, the ends of the cross piece opposing the wall ofthe journal box. Oil is then poured into the box to the desired depth. The parts may be removed from the box in the reverse order for inspection, repair or replacement.

As the journal plays back an forth in the journal box crosswise Aof the track, movement to the left moves the lever left hand arm 6 down and raises the lever arms IIJ, II extending under pump I, collapsing pumping chamber I5 and forcing uid in the chamber through ports into delivery chamber I6. As the journal moves to the right, springs 2 I, 22 and 23 thrust bottom wall I8 and the associated lever arm downwardly, closing ports 25 and forcing lubricant in the bottom of the box through ports 24 into chamber I5. When chamber I6 is filled with oil, further pump operating feeds the lubricant to pad Pand the surface of journal A.

The outer terminal of lever arm VIi is curved outwardly and downwardly and after predetermined or normal range of journal movement to the left the lower edge of the journal collar will ride along the curved terminal without further actuating the lever. (See the broken line position of the parts in Figure 1.) Upon movement of the journal to the right, the lever movement will be resumed. Hence, the maximum of the lever movement may be limited irrespective of the movement of the journal. This avoids undue compression of the pumping body and springs or other forcing of pump parts which might result in breakage as has sometimes occurred with previous journal box pumps with badly worn brass and wedge or the jumping out of the brass under abnormal conditions.

Figures 5, 6, 7 and 8 illustrate another form of the invention, having substantially greater pumping capacity and a different operating lever and lever mounting. An elongated rod 30 is applied to the longitudinal center portion of the box bottom wall and is welded to the box at W'. A hold down clip 3| is aligned with rod 33 and is welded to the box at W and is offset inwardly and upwardly. A lever support 32 has a horizontal leg inserted under the clip straddling the left hand end of rod 33 and frictionally retained in the position shown and has an upstanding ieg with its terminal portion forming a seat for 's lever fulcrum pin 33.

The operating lever has a journal engaging arm 34 extending upwardly and to the left from fulcrum 33 and has a pump supporting arm 33 extending to the right substantially horizontally above rod 30. 'I'he upper face of arm 34 has an uneven or tooth-like contour. A ring 3B is weld. ed or otherwise secured to the end of the journal A and has a beveled outer periphery disposed to cooperate with 4the upper face oi' lever arm 34 to thrustthe latter downwardly during relative axial movement of the journal and the box.

The pump body corresponds to that previousLv described in comprising a lower chamber 31 and an upper chamber L33 formed largely, but not necessarily entirely, of flexible material but having a rectangular contour, as viewed from above. and extending beneath a substantially larger area oi' the distributor pad P'. A plurality of springs 40 and 4I in chambers 31 and 33 tend to expand the chambers as shown in Figures 5 and 6. Springs 4I preferably are stronger than springs 43 so that upon each movement of the pump lever, chamber 31 will be collapsed and expanded, even if chamber 33 is not collapsed. The distributor and its supporting springs correspond to that shown in Figures 1-3.

The lower wall 42 of chamber 31 has a number ofapertures 43 (Figure 8) and a ilexible sheet 44, overlying and loosely secured to walls 42 by clips 45, has a number of apertures 4B. Apertures 43 and 46 are disaligned so that a plurality of inlet passages with effective return checks are simply formed over a wide expanse of the chamber bottom wall.

The same type of valved passages could be provided between chambers 49 and 4I but another simple eifective return check is shown iny Figure 7 in which the intermediate partition sheet 41 has a number of apertures 43 and an individual disc 49 overlies each aperture and is loosely attached by a clip 59 which permits the disc to move away from and towards the partition sheet according to the pressure or direction of flow of the lubricant.

The upper portion of chamber 38 is secured 4dirz-ectly to the lower plate 5| of the distributor and the distributor pad P isymounted directly upon plate 5|. Plate 5| is apertured at 52 for the passage of oil to the pad and journal. Accordngly, the distributor and the pump body comprises a single unit. It will be understood that the pump body could have a separate top plate and comprise a unit separate from the ldistributor as indicated in Figures 1-3.v

The assembly of the structure is eected by rst welding strip 30 to the box, then welding clip 3| to the box, then inserting the distributor and pump unit into the position shown where it is supported from the bottom of the box by its springs S', then inserting the pump lever and Support, thrusting support 32 beneath the offset arm of clip 3| and over the adjacent end of plate 30.

Movement of the journal crosswise of the box causes ring 3B and springs 40, 4| to alternatingly rock the lever in a counterclockwise and f then clockwise direction to pump iiuid from the bottom of the box to chambers 31 and 38 and to the distributor pad.

Both forms of the invention illustrate a pump of simple construction economical to manufacture, install and operate and having a body with at least one collapsible chamber, or a body with collapsible walls similar to a bellows structure. The pump is particularly adapted for use in American Association of Railroads standard journal boxes without requiring the jacking up of the journal and removal of the journal bearing and wedge or initial construction of special boxes. Of course, the pump is not limited to such installation.

While, preferably, the collapsible pump body comprises one or more chambers formed of flexible material "as illustrated and described above. a chamber may consist of telescoping parts formed of substantially rigid material, the telescoping parts being retractible and extensible to function as do the chambers formed of flexible material.

The form of the pump body may be varied otherwise from the details shown and the operating mechanism may vary from that shown without departing from the general principles herein disclosed and reference is here made to copending applications filed December 9, 1949, and March 13, 1950, Serial Nos. 131,975 and 149,415, and other changes in the structure may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and the exclusive use of those modifications coming within the scope of the claims is contemplated.

What is claimed is:

1. In a railway axle journal lubricator, alubricant distributor with an upper surface concaved about a longitudinal' axis above the distributor to adapt the distributor for application to a railway axle journal, a support member below said distributor, a lever fulcrumed on said support member and having an arm extending longitudinally of the distributor in the general direction of said axis and spaced below the distributor, a pumping device mounted on said arm and comprising a body with flexible walls, there being a connection between the upper portion of said body and said distributor for the passage of lubricant between them', said lever having another arm extending from its fulcrum in the direction opposite to that of said first-'mentioned arm and upwardly to the level of the lower portion of the distributor land having a terminal facing towards and spaced from the end of the latter and in a position where it could be operatively engaged by an end portion of a journal to which the distributor is applied.

2. Ay railway axle journal lubricator as described in claim 1 which includes yielding means for supporting the distributor independently of the support for the lever.

3. In a railway axle journal lubricator, a support, a lever having a fulcrum thereon and including an arm extending substantially horizontally from the fulcrum, the other arm of said lever extending upwardly from the fulcrum and being disposed for engagement and movement by the end portion of a journal to which the lubricator is applied, a pump body mounted on said horizontal lever arm and having a chamber with side walls of flexible material providing for the collapsing ci the chamber, and having a relatively stiff wall delivery chamber carried by the collapsible chamber, a pad-like distributor mounted directly above and on said delivery chamber and arranged for application to the underside of the journal to which the device is to be applied and thereby hold rsaid ypump body against free upward movement, there being a return check valve in the lower portion of said collapsible chamber for admitting fluid thereto and there being a return check valve leading from said collapsible chamber to said delivery chamber. v

4. In a lubricator as described in claim 3 in which the collapsible chamber is in the form of a cylinder with its axis disposed vertically and the distributor comprises a substantially horizontal and relatively wide, long, fiat pad of iibrous material, said collapsible chamber being associated with the center portion of said pad, there being springs for supporting the pad and pump and associated with said pad at points on the latter spaced from said center portion, said springs being disposed to engage the wall of the box to which the lubricator isv applied.

5. In combination with a railway axle journal and a box carried thereby, a lubricator having a support member carried by the box, a lever pivoted on said member and disposed to engage a. portion of the journal, and a flexible wall chamber pumping device supported by said lever and actuated by movement of said lever to be thrust towards the journal with the movement of one end of the chamber opposed by the journal.

6. In combination with a railway axle journal and a box carried thereby, a lubricator having a support member, a lever having a pivot thereon with one arm extending upwardly from the pivot and disposed to be engaged by the end portion of a journal to which the lubricator is applied, the other arm of the lever being disposed to extend substantially horizontally from the pivot under the journal, a pump chamber mounted on the latter-mentioned arm, said chamber having a iiexible side wall providing for the collapse of the chamber and having a return check valve leading into the chamber and having a return check outlet valve leading from the chamber. and a distributor pad overlying said pump chamber and positioned to engage the underside of the journal to prevent the upward movement of the upper portion of the collapsible chamber. f

7. A railway axle journal box lubricator comprising ra lubricant distributor with an upper` face arranged to engage the lower portion of a journal to be lubricated, a collapsible pump chamber below said distributor and discharging at its upper end through the lower portion of said distributor, a support member providing a fulcrum, and a lever thereon having an arm extending in one direction from the fulcrum lengthwise of the distributor with a terminal part supporting the lower end of said pump, the lever having another arm extending from the fulcrum in a generally opposite direction but inclined upwardly and outwardly with a terminal part including an upwardly-facing journal-engageable convex surface the convexity of which extends longitudinally of the arm.

8. In a railway axle journal lubricator, a fulcrum member, a lever mounted on said fulcrum and having an actuating arm and an elongated actuated arm. a similarly elongated relatively shallow pump body having a collapsible chamber with an exterior wall carried by and extendinitt along said lever actuated arm. a plurality of openings extending through said wall and associated lever arm and spaced apart longitudinally of said arm, and individual return check valves associated with said openings and accommodating the flow of fluid therethrough when said arm moves in one direction and obstructing the flow of uid therethrough when said arm moves in the opposite direction, and a lubricant distributor mounted on said body and having an arcuate upper face adapted for application to a railway journal, there being similar openings and return check va,ves in the upper wall of said body and the lower portion of said distributor.

9. In a railway axle journal box lubricator pump operating mechanism. an elongated member adapted to be secured to the box bottom wall. a support slidable lengthwise on said memi ber, a pump operating lever pivoted on said support and including an arm extending in one direction from the lever pivot lengthwise of and above said member and arranged to support a detachable pumping device at its swinging end,

and an arm inclined upwardly and away from the first-mentioned arm for contacting the end portion of an axle journal.

10. A pump operating mechanism as described in claim 9 in which the lever journal contacting arm has a transversely elongated surface, curved to lt against the lower corner of a railway Journal collar.

11. In a railway axle journal box lubricator pump operating mechanism, an elongated plate having a substantially straight body portion and an upwardly curved end portion, said portions having projecting lugs for application to the bottom wall of the box to hold the plate slightly spaced from the box wall, the curved end portion having a slot extending lengthwise and open at the end of the curved portion, a slide having recesses in its opposite faces for receiving the sides of said slot, a fulcrum pin on said slide spaced above and extending transversely of the plate, a lever fulcrumed on said pin with one arm disposed substantially parallel with and above the straight portion oi said plate and having a terminal adapted to support a pumping device, the other arm of said lever extending in a chordal direction across the arc of the curved portion of said plate and arranged to engage the corner of the journal on which the boxv mounted.

l2` In combination with a railway journal,

.a yjournal box mounted thereon, a lubricator pump structure, a support therefor in the box, a fulcrum pin on the support, means for positioning .said support 'in a predetermined position in the journal box, a lever mounted on said pin and including an arm, extending sub.- stantially horizontally in one direction from said pin and arranged to support a pumping device, and an arm extending at approximately .to the horizontal in the opposite direction from said fulcrum and having an upwardly facing inclined surface disposed to engage the lower outer corner of the journal.

13. In combination, a railway axle journal, a journal box mounted thereon and having a bottom wall curving upwardly towards the front of the box near the outer end of the journal, a pump beneath the bottom of said journal, and a pump operating device comprising a support mounted on the box bottom wall near the front of the journal, a lever pivoted on said support adjacent to the box bottom wall and having an arm inclined from-its pivot upwardly and towards the front of the box and engaging the lower outer cornerv of the end of the journal.

14. In a railway axle box journal lubricator, a lubricant distributing pad for application to the surfaceof the journal upon which the box is mounted, a pump body suspended'at itsupper end from said pad, at least a portion of said pump body forming a collapsible chamber, yielding means for extending the chamber, return check valve structure in the lower and upper walls of the chamber, the check valve structure in the chamber lower wall accommodating flow of lubricant into the chamberand the check valve structure in the chamber upper wall accommodating fiow of lubricant fromthe chamber to the pad, and an operating means-engaging element at the lower end of the chamber..

15. In a railway axle journal .box lubricator pump operating mechanism, a member adapted to be secured to the box bottom wall, a fulcrum pin mounted on said member, a pump actuating lever mounted on said pin and including an arm extending substantially horizontally in one direction from said pin and arranged to support a pumping device at its swinging end, and a lever arm extending upwardly and in the` opposite direction from said pin and having an upwardly facing tooth-like contour extending lengthwise of its upper face and opposinga journal to which the lubricator pump is applied.

16.- In combination. a railway axle journahthe outer end of said journal having a circumferential ridge, a journal box mounted on said journal, a pump beneath said journal, a pump operating device comprising a support on the box bottom wall, a lever pivoted on said support and having an arm extending from its pivot lengthwiseA of the journal and supporting said pump, the lever having an arm extending in the opposite direction from its pivot and having a tooth-like upper contour serrated longitudinally of the arm and opposing said journal ridge.

17. In combination with a railway journal and a lubricator pump therefor, a pump operating mechanism comprising a supporting fulcrum and a lever having a pump actuating arm and a journal-actuated arm extending from said fulcrum diagonally of the pump actuating arm to engage the outer corner` edge of the journal to effect rotation of the lever as the journal moves axially and relative to said fulcrum, the

outer end of said actuated arm being inclined away from its journal engaging surface to accommodate movement of the journal along the end portion of the arm without rotating the lever.

1B. In association with a railway axle journal and a journal box mounted thereon, a lubricator carried by the box and including a pump, a pump actuating lever, a xed fulcrum for the lever spaced from the journal below the journal axis and positioned inwardly of the box beyond the vertical plane of the end of the journal, one arm of the lever extending diagonally of the journal axis from said fulcrum to contact and extend past the outer corner of the journal when the journal is in its normal range of movement axially through the box, the outer end of said arm being inclined away and downwardly from the journal to slide parallel to the journal axis over said journal edge without actuating the lever when the journal exceeds its normal range of movementA axially and relative to the box. JAMES J. HFNNESSYLy References cited in the me of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 86,421 Lane Feb. 2, 1869 194,010 Stewart Aug. 7, 1877 229,563 Van Eps July 6, 1880 348,361 Van Order Aug. 31, 1886 891,928 Godley June 30, 1908 910,731 Schroeder Jan. 26, 1909 956,975 Keller May 3, 191.0

1,168,105 Nyberg Jan. 11, 1916 2,162,383 Hennessy June 13, 1939 2,178,754 Hennessy Nov. 7, 1939 2,476,545. Hayward July 19, 1949 

